vultures
Standing outside on a lunch break in the middle of the city in the middle of winter, wanting to be somewhere else.
vultures belongs to the following groups:
The Urban Environment and Welcome to WisconsinI don’t think I woke up this week. I’m still stuck somewhere else where walls slide open to public spaces and the water is not as deep as we thought. It’s a good thing no one remembered how to dive, we said to each other.
“Why are you wearing sunglasses? It’s dark and winter.”
“My eyes are cold.”
“Oh.” She turned to watch the waves crash over the breakwater and nodded. People carefully stepped over puddles and the sound of snow crunching patterned the silence. She tapped her ashes into the street and wondered about what kind of weather Campeche had this time of year. I said I didn’t know, and kind of thought they didn’t have this kind of time. That used to be my fantasy.
“I think I’ll go home now.”
I watched my breath make its definitive mark in the air and shrugged. The
fragile affection of violence
fell into our space, and she started to walk away as if she could out-walk it. But it never ceased to amaze us that something so heavy could move so fast. A car cut through the slush and I watched the man inside, sitting on the passenger side as if he was sleeping through another ten minutes.
“You promised to stay conscious.”
“I’m just resting my eyes.” Her figure dissolved grey against the color of people flowing from the doors of city buildings. I thought about where they were going and if they’d all come back. I thought about that man’s face pressed against the cold window of that car, and I wondered if he was going home.
If his house was warm.
Birds circled us. I shuffled into the snow and curled into warmth to watch the water while people in suits walked out of buildings as if stumbling through the next stage of sleep and I began to sort through
my mother’s eyes
that soft place below the pine tree next to my house
the stairway creaking
the grasshopper I kept in a Kleenex box and
waiting for him in the emergency room once again, resenting the people who watched
We were wrong—the depths were hidden in the blankets of waves. I looked over at the boats coming in and
wished she hadn’t left so soon. We were supposed to eat something.
Add your comment
You need to login or signup to add your comment to this work.